Cybersecurity: Rachel Milford Assesses the Risk
BY CLAIRE MOUNTCASTLE ’22
2 MIN. READ
“We know enough to be dangerous in a lot of areas,” senior cybersecurity and business information systems double major, Rachel Milford, says about online risk management. She loves being able to assess problems in the cyberworld. “It could be anything from subcontractors accessing private information to updating firewalls. It’s the core of what we do,” she continues.
Milford decided in her junior year of high school that she wanted to pursue cybersecurity when she went to college, “I discovered that I had this knack for pattern recognition and that my brain thinks differently than most people’s.”
After speaking with professor of political science, Dr. Michael Frank, Milford knew she had come to the right place, “he described the major and the type of person you need to be in this field and I left feeling like I had just been described.”
As a part-time commuter who also has a part-time job, Milford’s workload keeps her busy, but she’s getting it done. She plays defense for AU’s women’s soccer team, which also takes up a significant amount of her time outside of the classroom. Though she is quite busy, she notes that she makes sure to do everything possible to fulfill all of her commitments, “I go to class and I go to soccer, and that’s pretty much it.”
Milford works 20 hours a week at Johnson Controls, a company that produces electronics and HVAC equipment, as well as building automation, security, fire detection, batteries, and other related products. It is also building control systems, energy management, and integrated facility management services.
“Like any hard, STEM major, you just have to do the work,” she shares. Milford admits that it can be stressful at times, “thankfully I enjoy it, which makes doing the work a bit easier.”
“You just have to do it,” she adds. “There’s really no art to that. You maintain it because you have to.”
Her dream is to work in risk management at Johnson Controls. As of now, she has a verbal offer for a promotion and is working to seal the deal.
Anderson University is on a mission to educate students for lives of faith and service, offering more than 60 undergraduate majors, 30 three-year degrees, 20 NCAA Division III intercollegiate sports, alongside adult and graduate programs. The private, liberal arts institution is fully accredited and recognized among top colleges for its business, computer science, cybersecurity, dance, engineering, nursing, and teacher education programs. Anderson University was established in 1917 in Anderson, Indiana, by the Church of God.